Militants In Iraq Seek Control Of Precious Weapon: Dams, Waterways

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Mughdeed talks to the men he commands to protect the Mosul dam, a critical piece of infrastructure that supplies water and electricity. The dam is now close to the front line with the militants of the Islamic State in Iraq.

A Kurdish peshmerga soldier skims a stone across the Mosul dam lake on the Tigris river in northern Iraq. The rivers there — the Tigris and the Euphrates — are a source of pride for Iraqis, who in Arabic refer to their country as the land of two rivers.

Alice Fordham
/ NPR

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on August 2, 2014 6:41 am

In the searing heat of northern Iraq, among its dry, scrubby landscape, there's a surreal sight: a wide, shimmering blue lake, held back by the concrete and steel of a dam. It's on the Tigris River, near the city of Mosul.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Mughdeed, the commander of the soldiers guarding this dam, says even a small attack on the dam could have major repercussions: flooding, power cuts.

Right now, fighters from the Sunni militants now calling themselves the Islamic State are about six miles south, Mughdeed reckons — and they've already tried to move on the dam more than once.

Islamist extremists have pushed Iraq into crisis. They have taken towns and cities, roads and bridges, and Iraq's army can't seem to push them back.

Now the militants and the army are battling for control of the two great rivers that flow through Iraq: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The extremists are believed to have skilled water engineers among their number, and if they control Iraq's waterways, they could create serious disasters.

A Precious, Imperiled Dam

In a country as arid as Iraq, the rivers are precious and beloved. Mughdeed walks down to the lake to wash his face, while the soldiers he commands skim stones.

These are Peshmerga soldiers, from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish area. They are posted now on a military base close by, which was abandoned by the national Iraqi army soldiers as Mosul fell to extremists nearly two months ago.

Up at that base, the brigadier general explains why the dam he guards is so important.

If the dam is damaged, he thinks it would flood not just Mosul and the plains around it, but also affect the cities downriver — Tikrit, Beiji, even maybe Baghdad.

He says if the militants capture the dam, they could threaten their enemies with flooding — for example, if the Iraqi army made gains in Mosul. And it's a hydroelectric dam — they could cut off the power. The commander believes the extremists know how to do it

When the Iraqi army was disbanded in 2003, there were military and technical experts who were left jobless. Mughdeed thinks they're now fighting with the Islamic State.

There's other evidence of skilled water engineers among the militants. When the Islamic State took Mosul, they systematically cut off water supply to enemy areas. Then they issued a series of pictures of their men fixing water systems damaged in the fighting.

"This is just west of Baghdad," MacInnes says, "and this happened earlier on in the crisis where the communities of Ramadi and Fallujah become points of conflict."

By emptying those channels, the militants displaced 12,000 families, submerging hundreds of houses and at least four schools.

"It's an agricultural area and so all the agricultural lands were flooded and the crops were destroyed," MacInnes says. "The water sources themselves, within the community, became polluted, and so you no longer had clean water in the community."

And as the militants push toward Baghdad, there's been fierce fighting around two dams that are crucial for the capital's water supply: at Haditha, west of Baghdad, and the Hamrin lake to the north. Damage to either dam could create similar problems in the capital – but on a much larger scale.

In Mosul, Brig.-Gen. Mughdeed knows what's at stake.

He says none of his men sleep at night, because they know how much the Islamic State wants the dam.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

In Iraq Islamist extremists have pushed the country into crisis. The Sunni militants, now calling themselves the Islamic state, have taken towns and cities, gaining controls of roads and bridges, Iraq's army cannot seem to push back. And they're now battling for the two great rivers that flow through Iraq - the Tigris and the Euphrates. Here's NPR's Alice Fordham.

ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: This is kind of a surreal experience. I'm in the searing heat of Northern Iraq among its dry, scrubby landscape. But what I'm standing in front of is a wide, shimmering blue Lake held back by the concrete and steel infrastructure of the Mosul Dam. I'm here with Brigadier-General Mohammad Ali Muqdeed, the commander of the soldiers guarding this dam on the Tigris River near the city of Mosul.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL MOHAMMAD ALI MUQDEED: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: He says, even a small attack on the dam could cause huge flooding. Right now the fighters from the Islamic state are about six miles south, he reckons, and they've already tried to move on the dam more than once. In a country as arid as Iraq the rivers are precious and beloved. The commander walks down to the lake to wash his face while the soldiers he commands skim stones. These are Pershmerga soldiers from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish area. They are posted now on a military base close by, which was abandoned by the National Iraqi Army soldiers as Mosul fell to extremists nearly two months ago. Up at that base the Brigadier General tells me why the dam he guards is so important.

MUQDEED: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: If the dam is damaged he thinks it would flood not just Mosul and the plains around it but also affect the cities down river - Tikrit, Baiji, even maybe Baghdad.

MUQDEED: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: He says, if the militants capture the dam they could threaten the enemies with flooding. For example, if the Iraqi Army made gains in Mosul and it's a hydroelectric dam - they could cut off the power. The commander believes the extremists know how to do it.

MUQDEED: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: When the Iraqi army was disbanded in 2003 there were military and technical experts who were left jobless. He thinks they're now fighting with the Islamic State. There's other evidence of skilled water engineers among the militants. When the Islamic state took Mosul they systematically cut off water supply to enemy areas, then they issues a series of pictures of their men fixing water systems damaged in the fighting. Water has already been used as a weapon in this conflict. In the nearby city of Erbil I meet UNICEF's deputy director in Iraq, Colin MacInnes.

COLIN MACINNES: This is just west of Baghdad and this happened earlier on in the crisis where the communities of Ramadi and Fallujah became points of conflict.

FORDHAM: On the map he shows me the Abu Ghraib area where the Islamic State emptied a series of irrigation channels in May. They displayed 12,000 families, submerged hundreds of houses and at least four schools.

MACINNES: It's an agricultural area and so all the agricultural lands were flooded and the crops were destroyed. The water sources themselves within the community became polluted. And so you no longer had clean water in the community.

FORDHAM: In areas where the water has been cut off, MacInnes says, children have been badly affected. Cases of diarrhea and dehydration are on the rise. And as the militants push toward Baghdad there's been fierce fighting 200 miles away and much closer to Baghdad, around two dams crucial for the capital's water supply - at Haditha West of Baghdad and the Hamrin lake to the north. Damage to either dam could create similar problems in the capital but on a much larger scale. The brigadier general knows what's at stake.

MUQDEED: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: He says, none of his men sleep at night because they know how much the Islamic State wants this dam. Alice Fordham, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.